Ethos, Technology, and AI in Contemporary Society: The Character in the Machine

Bringing together expert rhetorical theorists and technologists, this book explores our current understanding of, and attitudes toward, ethos, credibility, and trust in today’s changing technological landscape.

Recent advancements in technology, including the development of digital technologies, the growth of algorithmic machine learning and artifical intelligence, and the circulation of disinformation in social media, necessitate a reevaluation of ethos. To explore the rhetorical concept of ethos, which is the perceived character of a speaker, contributors theorize how ethos is enabled, constrained, and constituted through new communication technologies. In this edited collection, chapters address key philosophical questions concerning the rhetorical capacities of modern communicating machines such as ChatGPT, Midjourney, or other digital platforms. Through case studies, new theorizing, and critical inquiry, contributors contemplate the changing relationship between humans and technology in rhetoric and ethos, revealing contemporary tensions and insecurities regarding issues including authenticity and authorship.

This book will be of interest to students and scholars in the fields of Rhetoric, Communication Studies, Technology Studies, Digital Humanities, and Cultural Studies.

Aaron Hess is an Associate Professor of Rhetoric and Communication in the College of Integrative Sciences and Arts at Arizona State University, USA. He is a co-editor of Readings in Rhetorical Fieldwork (Routledge, 2018) and Theorizing Digital Rhetoric (Routledge, 2017).

Jens Kjeldsen is a Professor of Rhetoric and Visual Communication in the Department of Information Science and Media Studies at the University of Bergen, Norway.